What is A11y? Understanding the Basics and Importance Digital Accessibility

TLDR;

• digital accessibility is essential for some but useful for all

Why digital accessibility is important

• accessibility a core principle of the web

• making the web accessible is the right thing to do

• accessibility improves the brand of your organization

• digital accessibility may become a legal requirement

Fundamentals of accessible design

• Medical vs Social model of disability

• using the User-Centered Design Process

• test for accessibility with real user data and automated tests

• always empathize with your user

Introduction

Digital Accessibility or Web Accessibility is often abbreviated A11y. This refers to the capacity of your website or application to perform for users who may experience a permanent or temporary disability.

Digital accessibility is important

A core principles of the web

Tim Berners-Lee originally invented with World Wide Web in 1989. Tim, now the W3X director has been widely quoted as saying "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

The web was designed to work for all people, and making content accessible to all has always been important regardless of users' diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability.

Making the web accessible is the right thing to do

Making the web accessible is the right thing to do. Accessibility should not be an afterthought - it is part of the User-Centered Design process.

We understand now the importance of audible signals at crosswalks, access ramps in public spaces, and even the emotional support provided by animals. These assistive services are essential for some people to navigate the world. Providing accessible web-based products and services is the same.

The business case for digital accessibility

Web accessibility never 'harms your design.' In fact, following accessibility guidelines will make your website or app easier for everyone. This is an enhancement to the overall design and user experience.

Web accessibility never 'harms your design.' In fact, following accessibility guidelines will make your website or app easier for everyone.

Many companies are severely lacking digital accessibility for their product or service. Making the effort to enable all users is an easy way to enhance your brand, drive innovation, and extend your market reach. (https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/).

Making the effort to enable all users is an easy way to enhance your brand, drive innovation, and extend your market reach

The legal case for digital accessibility

The international web standard WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) specifies three levels of accessibility conformance: A, AA, or AAA. The WCAG is increasingly being referenced as the standard for accessibility across the world, and these guidelines are becoming legal requirements.

Ontario passed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) making accessibility a legal requirement. All public-facing websites that were built or significantly refreshed since January 1st, 2014 should already comply with Level A and as of January 1, 2021, all public sector organizations and private organizations with 50 or more employees are required to be WCAG 2.0 AA accessible.

All public-facing websites that were built or significantly refreshed since January 1st, 2014 should already comply with Level A and as of January 1, 2021.

Manitoba created an Accessibility for Manitobans Act (2013) and Nova Scotia has established standards under the Access by Design 2030 (2018). All other provinces and territories are expected to follow suit in the near future.

• https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/accessible-canada.html

• https://www.accessiblemetrics.com/blog/4-key-takeaways-from-2018-web-accessibility-lawsuits/

Accessibility basics

Understanding digital accessibility is important for designers, developers, business owners, and organizational leaders.

There are several types of disabilities to consider, and even two competing models for what constitutes a 'disability'.

There are several ways to programmatically assess the accessibility of your website, but good design is an iterative process and requires real data.

Two competing models of disability

There are two popular models of what constitutes 'disability,' the medical model and the social model. The medical model has been the traditional view. With a powerful shift in focus from the individual to society, the social model is now widely accepted.

Medical model

The medical model states that disability results from a person’s intrinsic physical or mental limitation. The medical model places the source of the problem within the person and regards disability as a defect or sickness. This model often refers to a disabled person as a victim and can be patronizing and offensive.

Social model

The Social Model views disability as a consequence of environmental, social, and attitudinal barriers. The social models place the source of the problem on society and regards disability as a condition of inadequate design. This model also extends beyond physical or environmental limitations but includes barriers of prejudice and inequality.

The social models place the source of the problem on society and regards disability as a condition of inadequate design.

Types of disabilities

There are many different types of disabilities to be aware of when making an accessible digital product. People with disabilities often use assistive technology to help navigate, consume and contribute to the content on the web.

People with disabilities often rely on assistive technology and adaptive strategies. Our goal is to make this experience as easy as possible. When assessing the accessibility of your digital product there are several broad categories of disability to be aware of:

• Visual

• Auditory

• Speech

• Physical

• Neurological

• Cognitive

Testing accessibility

There are several ways to test the accessibility of your website. Automated tests are available, and are often a good start. You can easily test your site with Google Lighthouse, WAVE, and axe DevTools browser extension (Chromium browsers). These testing tools will easily identify many common errors including: low contrast text, missing image alt tags, and non-descriptive anchor text.

Accessibility is more than just passing a series of checklists...

Accessibility is more than just passing a series of checklists, and this is where UX design really performs. How easy is it to use your website with just a mouse and without a keyboard? What about just a keyboard and without a mouse? How clear is the navigation accessed from just a screen reader?

These are the real questions that will help identify accessibility concerns. All of it requires extensive user research and testing. Often even creating a few new design patterns can make a big difference.

Perfect accessibility

Perfect accessibility is not always achievable. There will always be edge cases that have not been considered and tested. When we talk about perfect accessibility we do not mean just "scoring 100%" on your Google Lighthouse accessibility test.

Perfect accessibility is not always achievable. There will always be edge cases...the important thing is to listen, and learn from your users' stories.

Making a website accessible is about enabling real users to achieve their goals whether that is reading a blog, finding your business hours, or booking a flight. Our purpose here is to make the process as easy as possible for all users.

Edge cases will always exist, the important thing is to listen, and learn from your users' stories. With this new information, we can empathize with our users and consider as many perspectives as possible in the design.

Accessibility in UX design

Accessibility design awareness is an aspect of UX design and uses core principles from the User-Centered Design process. It is always important to keep in mind the thoughts and feelings of our users. The goal is to enable all user to on any digital platform, regardless of physical or cognitive ability.

Part of a user-centered design process

Understanding accessibility and designing with best practices is part of our User-Centered Design (UCD) process. Accessible design uses the same principles as UCD but with a focus on how people may become enabled and disabled in any situation by technology and social context.

...with a focus on how people may become enabled and disabled in any situation by technology and social context.

UXD is about empathy for the users

User Experience Design is about understanding, anticipating, and creating solutions to design problems. Empathy-based concepts are often used to explain design decisions. What might the user think of Point A? How might the user feel at Point B?

Accessible design is an extension of UX design where we specifically consider the thoughts and feelings of those in disabling situations. Technology can be sometimes frustrating to use. We want to help allow anyone to use technology technology as intended.

References

• "What is Digital Accessibility? | Codecademy." Codeacademy, https://www.codecademy.com/articles/what-is-digital-accessibility/. Accessed 5 August 2021.

• "Digital Accessibility 101 | Enginess Insights." Enginess.io, https://www.enginess.io/insights/digital-accessibility/. Accessed 5 August 2021.

Summary

Understanding digital accessibility is essential for designers, developers, and organizations that want to create high-quality websites and web tools. It is important for reaching a large target audience and not excluding people from using their products and services.

Understanding digital accessibility is essential for designers, developers, and organizations that want to create high-quality websites and web tools.

As the general awareness of digital accessibility increases, we can expect to see more widespread and explicit regulations and guidelines.

Making your website accessible begins by taking a moment to consider how users with reduced ability may think or feel while using it. Automated tests are great tools for gaining general insight into accessibility but testing with real users should always be done.